DLA Piper South Africa announced the appointment of Phila Zulu as a director in its Johannesburg office. Zulu joins the firm’s Finance team on July 1, 2026.
Zulu advises on complex, multi-jurisdictional finance matters. His practice focuses on credit derivatives, debt capital markets, securitization, banking and finance, and general corporate law.
His experience includes transactions involving EU, U.K., and U.S. securities law, including Regulation S and Rule 144A matters. His appointment strengthens DLA Piper South Africa’s finance capabilities in Johannesburg.
The firm also announced three promotions across its Corporate, Finance, and Tax practices. Christoph Berndt, Hemlata Singh, and Leratorato Madiba have each been promoted from associate to senior associate.
Berndt specializes in tax structuring for domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He also advises on tax-related warranty and indemnity insurance, VAT, exchange control, and international tax matters.
Singh advises clients on domestic and cross-border financing transactions. Her focus areas include leveraged and acquisition financing, real estate financing, preference share funding, corporate financing, and debt restructurings.
Madiba advises local and multinational clients on equity capital markets, public and private M&A, private equity, and general corporate and commercial law. She has worked with clients across financial services, consumer goods, food and retail, renewable energy, mining, and infrastructure.
DLA Piper South Africa’s Tax practice also appointed Diwan Kamoetie as a senior associate. Kamoetie has experience in international and domestic M&A tax, private equity, and exchange control.
The additions build on DLA Piper South Africa’s broader growth strategy. The firm recently strengthened its team with the appointment of directors Patrick Leyden in Corporate and Melusi Dlamini in Projects.
DLA Piper also recently promoted Corporate director Brian Malcomess to global partnership. The firm also appointed Annie Nair as a senior associate in the Corporate practice.
KEY QUOTE:
“We remain committed to growing our Johannesburg office in a deliberate and client-focused way. Our recent hires and promotions ensure that we continue to meet rising client demands with the right expertise.”
Johannes Gouws, Country Managing Partner, South Africa at DLA Piper
